The latest “social networking” site is Pinterest. If you want to join the party, you need to get an invitation from a member or request a membership from the site. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you get to “pin” up the different images or things of interest you see on the internet. I explained the concept to a friend as a visual bookmark you can share with your followers or anyone who happens upon your pin.

Don’t Get Bored With the Boards

As a member, you create boards that showcase your interests. If you love unusual recipes, you can create a board called Unusual Recipes to pin the pictures you happen to find on the internet. If you link a picture from a website, that picture will have the link attached to it on your board. This is a convenient feature for people who are planning an event and are using their boards as a virtual scrapbook.

The uses for Pinterest are as varied as the people who use it. Many people have used Pinterest to plan a wedding or other events using their boards on Pinterest. Some people use their boards to pin up decorating or remodeling ideas. I have seen boards dedicated to DIY ideas, crafts, nostalgia, music, celebrities, cute animals, etc. The interface on Pinterest makes it easy for people to find other pins and pinners that are related to your interests due to the overarching categories you can search through.

How Close is Close

The community on Pinterest can be as personal or impersonal as you want it to be. If you want to share boards with a few friends, you have that option. If you want to jump into the fray of all who pin, then you need to do so with the understanding that the scammers and hackers are already in full force on this forum. My Pinterest boards were oddly hacked by someone who pinned pictures with a link to a weightloss supplement site. Mind you, the settings to my boards were set so I am the only one who could pin on my boards. Unfortunately, someone managed to hack by that setting and pinned away. This unsolicited pinning has happened to others, so it’s important to be aware of that and mind your boards. Another scam that has befallen others is the one where a link to a pin would lead you to a “You Just Won!” site that phishes for your personal information.

How To Spot the Scammers:

If you get a notification that someone is following you and you see that they have an exorbitant amount of unrelated pins and a few boards, they are a scammer.

If they have many boards with only one pin on each board, they are a scammer.

If they have a picture but no personal info, tread with caution.

If they don’t have a picture or personal info, tread with caution.

If you see an account with the name of a celebrity or fictional character, tread with caution.

If you did all of the above and figure the person you want to follow looks legit, then do the pin/link test. Before you do the test, make sure your internet security software is up to date and not compromised. Now click through a pin that holds your interest. If that pin of a delicious looking drink leads you to a website that is unrelated to the picture, you may have uncovered the hijinks of a scammer.

Good for Business

In my opinion, Twitter is the king of internet marketing. If you want to reach a large group of people and you know how to tag your tweets, Twitter can lead more eyes on your product. Pinterest seems to have a more niche type of reach to your prospective customers. There are not as many people on Pinterest as on Twitter, but the people on Pinterest are looking for pins that interest them. If you have a product that is visually pleasing or interesting, someone may see it and repin it on their board for their followers and friends to see. And before you know it, your pin could have been repinned many times. In translation, you would get more eyes on your product.

If you present yourself on Pinterest as an entrepreneur, no one can claim that you are scamming or tricking them into anything. If you have an Etsy shop, you can easily pin your product and the products of others with a distinctive imprint of Etsy connected. Try to make the board that showcases your work separate from your personal interests. Unlike Twitter, if a prospective buyer happens upon your boards, they can get to know you. After seeing that you have an unhealthy interest in baby birds, origami, and all things Hunger Games, they may feel a personal connection to you.

Still Interested

If you want to check it out, I encourage you to check out this link that will take you to the Pinterest about page. http://pinterest.com/about/ All the information you need can be found there. If you want to see my boards, follow me on Twitter. I tend to share a lot of my pins through Twitter. You may actually see that I have a love of incredibly cute animals.